Saturday, December 3, 2011

Lessons from the world's greatest Boss!

Hey dolls,

Missed you. Between being a mom, girlfriend, sister, friend, mentor and boss lady there was simply no time for the blog. But don't worry, will pop in once in a while. I aint dead.


I believe I have the world’s greatest boss. He has helped me grow from a simple naive intern from the university to a fully fledged confident IT engineer leading a team of 6. I have worked with him for close to 3 years now and the amount and quality of knowledge I have gained is too much and too good to not be shared. Here are the most valuable lessons I have picked from him.

1. Attitude: In most cases, attitude beats both experience and skill. When you have an employee who has a hunger to learn, a thirst to grow and extremely good at following instructions, this is someone invaluable. They will most likely go further than a highly skilled experienced worker.

2. Punctuality: You can never go wrong with this. Always be early to work, early to meetings. (Please note that I said early not on time) For my entire internship (up to date) I always arrived an hour before the official starting time. He has never been more impressed.

3. Dress to impress: Always stand out. Shabby clothes never helped anyone. This man has 500 dollar shades!

4. Know where and when: Always praise in public, rebuke in private.

5. Patience: Give people as many chances as you can, the more rope to hang themselves.

6. Mentor: Make sure each and every employee you are in charge of grows.

7. Have a sense of humour: It’s never that serious. Always have a good laugh. It makes you approachable.

8. Respect: Give it regardless of public stature. He treats the cleaning lady the same way he does the CEO. Respect is very different from being feared. Respect is commanded not demanded. Respect yourself and others will.


9. Motivate: We work for a really good company. The motivational benefits are already many but he always has the mind to treat the entire team to breakfast or lunch or even the odd pizza. Be generous, it doesn’t hurt.

10. Fair: Always be fair. Give everyone an opportunity to explain themselves. Listen to both sides of the story.

Aspire to inspire before you expire.